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Objectives and Principles of Plant Layout

Objectives and Principles of Plant Layout
Info on Objectives and #Principles of Plant Layout: Plant layout refers to the physical arrangement of production facilities. It is the configuration of departments, work centres and equipment in the conversion process. It is a floor plan of the physical facilities, which are used in production. A plant layout study is an engineering study used to analyze different physical configurations for a manufacturing plant. It is also known as Facilities Planning and Layout. Some Precise Definitions for Plant Layout: According to Moore “Plant layout is a plan of an optimum arrangement of facilities including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, material handling equipment and all other supporting services along with the design of best structure to contain all these facilities”. “Plant layout is the #arrangement of machines, work areas and service areas within a factory”. —George R. Terry “Plant layout involves the development of physical relationship among building, equipment and production operations, which will enable the manufacturing process to be carried on efficiently”. —Morris E. Hurley “Plant layout can be defined as a technique of locating machines, processes and plant services within the factory so as to achieve the greatest possible output of high quality at the lowest possible total cost of manufacturing”. —Sprigal and Lansburg “Plant layout ideally involves the allocation of space and the arrangement of equipment in such a manner that overall operations cost can be minimised.” —J. Lundy From these definitions it is clear that plant layout is arrangement and optimum utilisation of available resources in such a manner so as to ensure maximum output with minimum input. Objectives of Plant Layout: The primary goal of the plant layout is to maximise the profit by arrangement of all the plant facilities to the best advantage of total manufacturing of the product. The objectives of plant layout are: Streamline the #flow of materials through the plant. Facilitate the manufacturing process. Maintain high turnover of in-process inventory. Minimise materials handling and cost. Effective utilisation of men, equipment and space. Make effective utilisation of cubic space. Flexibility of manufacturing operations and arrangements. Provide for employee convenience, #safety and comfort. Minimize investment in equipment. Minimize overall production time. Maintain flexibility of arrangement and operation. Facilitate the #organizational structure. Principles of Plant Layout: Principle of integration: A good layout is one that integrates men, materials, machines and supporting services and others in order to get the optimum utilisation of resources and maximum effectiveness. Principle of minimum distance: This principle is concerned with the minimum travel (or movement) of man and materials. The facilities should be arranged such that, the total distance travelled by the men and materials should be minimum and as far as possible straight line movement should be preferred. Principle of cubic space utilisation: The good layout is one that utilise both horizontal and vertical space. It is not only enough if only the floor space is utilised optimally but the third dimension, i.e., the height is also to be utilised effectively. Principle of flow: A good layout is one that makes the materials to move in forward direction towards the completion stage, i.e., there should not be any backtracking. Principle of maximum flexibility: The good layout is one that can be altered without much cost and time, i.e., future requirements should be taken into account while designing the present layout. Principle of safety, #security and satisfaction: A good layout is one that gives due consideration to workers safety and satisfaction and safeguards the plant and machinery against fire, theft, etc. Principle of minimum handling: A good layout is one that reduces the material handling to the...
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